Angel of Music
by Crystal Jackson
Summary: Angela Rodney, a young woman has visited Paris with her cousin Peter. When she visits the theater of the Phantom of The Opera, what will happen to our young Angela?
1. Chapter 1

**Angela's POV**

Paris, the city of art and beauty. It's gorgeous! I have been begging my parents for a year to let take this trip. My cousin, and best friend, Peter helped too, so he had to come. I glanced around me taking in all the beautiful buildings. We were right next to a market, so many wonderful smells filled our noses. The train ride had been stuffy and I had gotten motion sick, so I sighed with pleasure at the fresh air.

The slight breeze ruffled my skirts and brought me back to my senses. I turned to Peter and smiled.

"Peter, we're finnaly here!" I hugged him tightly, and he laughed at my enthusiasm.

"Yes Angela, we're here." I realesed him to look about me. Paris was more beautyful than I had imagined. Remembering, I pulled out the note my mother had given me, for when I arrived.

"Peter, Mother said we should go to this theater first." My parents have already been here multiple times, and knew the best places to go. I showed him the name on the note. He looked around us and spotted its sign. We walked up to it. It was a huge building, larger than any I have seen in my hometown. While i was standing agahst at the granduire of this theater, Peter-who had been to big cities like this before and wasn't fazed- read the sign on the door and motioned me over. As I could only speak a little french-and couldn't read it- Peter translated the sign for me.

"They're showing the opera 'Hannibal' tonight." It wasn't time for the preformance yet, so we went to the market to kill some time.

Once the clock tower struck eight, we were sitting in the theater. The lights were dim, and the orcestra was playing softly. I wiggled in my seat with anticipation. This would be my first time seeing an opera of such a high caliber. I went still as the curtains opened. The preformance that followed was breath taking. The dancing was marvelous, and the singing was heavenly.

After it was over, we walked out onto the street in front of the theater. I danced around-not as gracefully as the dancers- laughing. Peter chuckled at my sillyness, but I was too happy to care. Giving in to the fun, Peter started singing one of the songs in his deep base, and I harmanized with him in my soft Alto. I grew bold as the song drew to a close, and sung the final notes as loud as I could. When we had finished, we were met with applause. I had forgotton that we were surrounded by people. I blushed as the confidence that I had before left me. I never liked singing in front of anyone, but my family. Peter sensing my distress, pulled me away from the crowd. We started walking back to the Hotel we were staying at. As we walked, I spotted a passage way to a lower level of the theater and I made a mental note to investigate it later.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

I sat in my bed, unable to sleep. My mind couldn't stop replaying yesterday's events. The sun hadn't made an appearance yet, so I decided to take a walk, and possibly investigate that passageway. I slipped on my cloak over my dress, that I had been too tired and embarrassed to change. Checking if Peter was awake, I silently opened his door. As I guessed, he was asleep with a book on his chest.

Smiling, I closed his door, and walked downstairs to the Hotel Lobby. I left a note for Peter with the receptionist, it said that I had taken a walk and would be back soon. Walking out into the chilly morning air, I pulled my cloak tighter to my body. I started off to the theater, needing to know where that passage leads.

When I finally reached it, I hesitated. The last time I had explored without telling anyone, I had explored without telling anyone, I had gotten lost and was stuck in a tunnel for a couple hours. It was a miracle that a passing old man heard my cries and helped me. I snapped out of my trance. I stared into the darkness. Eventually, my curiosity over won my caution, and I plunged into the passage. It was slightly damp, and torches lined the walls. The torches were low and dim, and offered only just enough illumination to see.

After a few turns, I was surprised to find myself in the dark. I glanced behind me, unsure whether to go on or go back. Taking a deep breath, I went on. I walked slowly, using my left hand to guide along the wall. A sharp crack sounded behind me. Frightened, I started to run. I ran faster and faster, but something caught my foot, and I cracked my head against the wall. Everything went black.

 **Erik/The Phantom's POV**

As I returned from my walk, I noticed footprints in front of the passage to my prison. I examined the prints closely, holding on to my new supplies. While I stared, confused and suspicious, one of the new pens I had placed precariously on my stack of parchment fell on to the stone floor with a loud crack. I heard a soft gasp. Quickly, I grabbed the pen and hurried down the passage. My long legs aided me to quickly and quietly catch up to the intruder. Before I could reach them, they tripped, hitting their head against the wall and collapsing. I slowed my pace to a jog once I got close. On a closer inspection, the intruder ended up being a girl. She was knocked out cold. Sighing, I lifted her into my arms. I contemplated leaving her in front of the passage, but my curiosity won out. I needed to know why she was here.

I continued quickly to the lake, and placed her into my boat, then my supplies. Then I rowed us across. Once there, I picked the girl back up, carried her to my chair and draped her cloak over her. I went back and grabbed my supplies. After placing them on a side table by my organ, I turned back to the girl, who was starting to wake.

 **Angela's POV**

I slowly started to regain my consciousness. I wasn't still in the passageway, this I knew, but I don't know where exactly I am. The fact that I haven't opened my eyes yet may contribute to that. Slowly, I started to open my eyes. My head was throbbing in pain. When my vision cleared, I found myself in a dark room, with candles against the walls. Shifting, my cloak, which was spread over me like a blanket, fell. The cold helped clear my head and I sat up against the back of the chair. There was a man walking about the room. He was wearing a dark gray cloak and a pure white mask on the right side of his face. I squeaked when he turned swiftly towards me. I sat up straight, trying to seem confident. The look on his face showed that it wasn't very convincing.

"What were you doing here?" His voice was loud and powerful, yet musical at the same time. I stuttered, trying to come up with some sort of answer. The man sighed in annoyance, and his strikingly blue eyes met mine and I felt a strange sensation fall over me. I felt compelled to tell him everything, yet somehow I fought back. The man seemed slightly impressed, but pushed farther into my mind. I gritted my teeth and gave in.

"I saw the passage and needed to know where it led." It was the truth and I knew if his power overcomes me, he would force more out of me. Once the sensation from what I believe to be hypnotism wore off, I was hit with a headache more fierce than my previous one. I tried to stand, but I was hit with the most awful vertigo, and had to sit back down again. The man stepped towards me, seemingly concerned. I shrank back, needing to know.

"W-who are you?" The man thought for a moment.

"Erik, but I'm known by a much different name." He seemed shocked at this confession. I looked at him confused. "And your name?" He asked, distracting me. Thinking, I decided to go with the truth.

"Rodney, Angela Rodney." I held out my hand, leaning forward. He took my hand with a half-hearted smile. Continuing to hold my hand, Erik helped me up. My legs held me for a moment, but they eventually gave up and I fell. Erik caught me before I fell, and I was staring into those shockingly blue eyes again. On closer inspection his right eye was almost white, and his lower lip was larger than his upper lip. Blushing, I looked away, realizing I had been staring at his lips. He stood me up straight.

"Thank you." I gave him a soft smile. He returned it with a curt nod. Seeing if my legs would hold me, he let me go. Though they were shaky, they held. When my legs were sturdy enough to him, he backed away a bit. I looked around me, able to see much more standing up. I looked back at the organ. It was a beautiful instrument, and my fingers itched to play it. I knew how to play a bit on the piano, and loved the beautiful sound they make.

"Do you play?" I asked excitedly, pointing towards the organ. I mentally slapped my forehead, of course he played, who just has an organ!? He chuckled softly at my excitement.

"Yes, I play." My embarrassment must have been evident on my face, because he went over to the organ and started to play. He was utterly brilliant, but I was speechless when he started to sing. Erik's voice was absolutely gorgeous. I swayed along to the beat, and found myself starting to sing along. The words were simple and the beat was catchy. The music seemed to be pulling me in, and I ended up next to him, still singing. Soon Erik stopped playing, but continued to sing, and I was brought along. We ended up slowly dancing. Dancing isn't really my forte, so it was a sort of shuffle, but Erik somehow made it beautiful. I was floating around the room in Erik's arms. Too soon, the song ended, and we ended up staring at each other, standing still. A quick thought passed through my mind, and a gasp ripped through my throat. Erik looked down at me, concerned.

"I have to go! My cousin will be waiting for me." He nodded, understanding and let me go.

"I'll take you back." He led me back to the lake and the boat. Erik rowed us back, and grabbed a lantern to guide us through the darkness until we reached the passage opening.

"This is where I leave you." He shifted uncomfortably. "Will you come back?" His expression was unreadable, but his eyes told me everything.

 **"I will." I smiled at him, and a strange thought entered my head and I decided to act upon it. I leaned forward, and held his face. I gave him a swift peck on his bare cheek, then turned and strode of, cheeks blazing.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

I hurried along the road, trying not to think of what I had just done. Once I reached the Hotel, I spotted Peter. He was speaking to the receptionist from the lobby in french. Peter's back was turned to me, but the man saw me, and motioned to Peter. I saw him turn and I expected him to be angry, or relieved but instead he merely smiled. Though I had been gone for a few hours, but he couldn't have been up for very long. I couldn't tell what they had been saying since I was too far away. We walked to each other, closing the distance.

"Where did you go? I got your note." I hesitated, but I told him everything. He had a small frown on his face when I finished my story.

"Why on earth did you go there without telling me?! And this Erik fellow, what is his surname, and why was he here either?!" Peter continued on lecturing. It seemed he was always lecturing me, he was only a few years older than me. He's 26 and I'm only a year younger than him. We have been nearly inseparable since first we met as children. That's probably why I'm as mature as I am, with him as my constant companion. I stiffened my back and looked Peter in the eye.

"I went to the passageway behind the theater, because I found it strange that there was a random passage there, and if I had told you, you would have attempted to stop me. As for his surname, I don't know, but he will tell me soon enough. And finally, I believe he lives there, as the place was furnished beautifully." I had purposefully left the kiss from my story. Peter eventually gave up on his lecturing, and tended to my head. It wasn't as bad I had thought. He continued to grumble as he placed a wet cloth against the light wound.

Afterwards, Peter wrote to his love in London. Her name is Elizabeth, but I call her Lizzie. Peter calls her Dear, Love, and occasionally, Liz. Lizzie is a pretty girl, with her platinum blonde hair and her sky-blue eyes. Peter with his light brown hair and dark green eyes, makes them a lovely couple. Dear Lizzie is away at school in London, and they haven't seen each other since the end of summer. As far as I can guess, she is about the same age as the girl we saw sing last night.

"I wish to meet this Erik." I turned quickly in my chair to face him. He took off his reading glasses.

"Preferably today." He added. I should've known he was going to say that.

"Do we have to?" I asked, trying to sound casual. Peter glared at me, and that was all of an answer I needed.

"Let's go then." I groaned. I got up, and went to grab my cloak, but it was gone. I must have left it somewhere. The memory of when I last had it is a bit fuzzy. I grabbed my shawl instead. We then left at a healthy clip, and more quickly than I wished, we reached the passage. In my head, I prayed that Erik would forget or not mention the fact that I had kissed him. Peter pushed me gently to the opening of the passage.

"Go on." He said, motioning me forward. I took a deep breath, and stared into the darkness. Starting forward, we walked all the way to the lake (I had grabbed one of the torches on the wall to light our way). There was no boat in sight, so Erik must be here. I shouted his name across the water, and heard his answer.

"Erik, I'm back!" Soon, the light of his lantern glowed across the lake. I instantly smiled fondly when I saw it. After a few minutes, he had reached us. I felt Peter tense up beside me.

"He's at least forty!" He hissed in my ear. I lightly slapped his leg, and smiled at Erik.

"You called?" He said, his left eyebrow rising. "Who is he?" I introduced Peter, who had a queer look on his face, and he shook Erik's hand. He was staring at Erik's mask. While Peter's left hand was shaking Erik's, his right hand was sneaking up. My eyes widened with shock at Peter's audacity. I cried out, but was too late, and he snached the mask off. I only caught a glimpse of the disfiguration, before Erik turned with a roar. Peter stepped back, his shock evident on his pale face.

"YOU WICKED BOY!" Erik yelled, and went to grab the mask, but Peter stepped back again. I reached out to the two men, but I couldn't stop Erik's fist colliding with Peter's face. I gasped as Peter stumbled back. Shouting, he launched himself at Erik, who dodged, but not without tripping. Peter tried to grab him, but he rolled out of the way. I had to stop this before someone got seriously hurt.

"Stop it you fiends!" I yelled, slamming my foot down. The two men paused, panting. I rushed over to inspect the damage. Peter's eye was black and swollen, but I made him help Erik up, which nearly caused another fight. Erik was fine, except for a few bruises.

"You utter beasts! You could have killed each other!" I spotted two stools and pushed the men onto them. Peter's face was emotionless (yet slightly guilty), but Erik was still mad. They refused to look at each other. I huffed at their childishness. I searched for where Peter had thrown the mask. Erik had been holding a hand over his face. Finding it fairly quickly, I- with Erik's consent- gently fastened the mask into its place. He smoothed his hair after, and gave me a quick grateful smile.

"Now, no more fighting." I ordered, looking more at Peter. They glanced at each other, then nodded. After one more stern look, I let them up. We stood there, in an awkward silence.

"I think you two should go." Erik said stiffly, straightening his suit. I felt my heart break as he said this, and tried my best to keep a neutral expression as he walked us back. I couldn't look him in the eye as we said farewell. Once we were out of eye and ear shot, I lost my control and started to sob. Peter wrapped his arms around me as I cried into his shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Peter and I left Paris the next day. We hadn't returned for about a year, with the end of Peter's schooling and such. This time Lizzie can go with us, now that she has finally become a midwife. I'm sure he'll propose to her once we get there. Though all these happy things were happening, all I could think about Erik. Peter had noticed this and, in the beginning, he tried to turn my mind away from thoughts of Paris and Erik, but gave up in the end. He hoped that a trip to Paris would help me and perhaps let me let go.

Soon we were riding in another stuffy train. Thankfully, it wasn't raining again, as it had on the way, since I had forgotten my umbrella at home, which had earned me another lecture from Peter about the importance of remembering one's things. When we exited the train, the cold air instinctively made me draw my new cloak tighter. My old cloak was still with Erik.

Thoughts of Erik brought fresh tears to my eyes. I blinked them away before they could fall. Peter and Lizzie had already started looking around, so I had to walk quickly to keep up with Peter and Lizzie's broad strides. Damn tall people.

"Where do you want to go?" Lizzie asked still staring into Peter's eyes. She obviously wasn't talking to me, so I tried to look for all the changes from when we had left. Not much had changed, really, but it was something to do. As we continued on, I started just looking at the colors and patterns, rather than actual things. I did anything to keep my mind from inevitability returning to thoughts of Erik, since this trip was to help me to stop thinking of him. Peter's entire plan was ruined when we came up to that damnable opera house. The Opéra Populaire.

"My Dear, I haven't seen an opera in ages!" Lizzie exclaimed, rushing over to the sign before Peter could stop her. He shot me an apologetic look, but I smiled and waved him on. I wasn't about to ruin their fun. We had arrived a bit later than the first time we came, so we could go in already. It was a rather big crowd of people, though not as big as the last one. They were performing, _Don Juan Triumphant_ , an opera we had never heard of. They found this possibly new opera exciting, as one does get tired of renditions, while I found it quite odd. I had been looking through the opera pamphlet I had received at the door as I walked, and saw the girl who was the female lead in _Hannibal_ was the lead in this opera too. Usually, the continuation of one actor or actress as the lead wouldn't be strange, but this 'Christine Daaé' had only become popular this past year. Carlotta Giudicelli had been the reigning star the past few years, and couldn't have retired yet, since she was on the cast list (she was rather low, and her character didn't even have a name).

"Angela, are you alright?" Lizzie had a concerned look on her face when I looked up. My face must have been contorted in confusion for Lizzie to notice.

"I'm fine." I responded with a smile. This of course was a lie, but Lizzie took no notice, and my lie went undetected. She smiled at me, and skipped back over to Peter. I nearly gagged.

We were allowed to seat ourselves after we paid, since we were some of the first people there. I led us to the third row on the floor, close enough to be able to easily hear, but far back enough to see the entire stage.

I chose an aisle seat, close to an exit. I felt an inclination I might need it. Still going through the pamphlet, I realized something. The writer's name was nowhere to be seen. I flipped through all the pages, but there was no writer's name anywhere. This confused me to no end. I wasn't frightened though…until they started bringing in officers. A man on the stage was talking to who I assumed was the head officer. The man was dressed richly, and was now talking to a younger officer in the pit. He was telling the man to shoot someone when the time came!? I wasn't the only one who found this troubling, some people around us were shifting uneasily in their seats. Peter and Lizzie tried to pay no attention to this, though Peter was more alert.

"I'm here, The Phantom of the Opera." A voice sung. The voice was so familiar, but I could remember where I had heard it. The man seemed to recognize it though, and told the younger man to hold his fire. The voice continued its chant, but the owner of the voice seemed to be moving extremely fast, and the voice was coming from many different spots. The voice shouted from one of the boxes, and the young officer shot at it. I smothered a scream. The box was empty, thank goodness. The voice jeered at the 'Vicomte de Chagny', who I expected to be the man on the stage. The group bickered for a few moments, before the 'Phantom' interrupted.

"Let my Opera begin!" He sung. This Phantom seemed to be the mysterious writer. The opera began as the Phantom commanded. The music was awful, and none of the voice parts fit. The story was simple. A man switched places with his servant to bed a young woman, not the most unique plot. Soon, Miss Christine made her appearance. The cloaked man's, who was the title character, voice changed, and I smothered a gasp. It was the Phantom. I sat on the edge of my seat as the song went on. The song seemed to be made for her, but the dancing was strange. Near the end of the song, the Phantom pulled her rather harshly to the right side of the stage. Christine continued to sing nevertheless, but suddenly pulled the cloak's hood from the Phantom's face. I stared speechless. It was Erik! He began to sing to her, but I was in too much shock to really listen to the words. Peter was glaring intensely at Erik, as he explained to Lizzie what was wrong. After the shock faded a bit, I went to stand up, but was too late. I watched in horror as Christine pulled his mask (and wig?) off. He roared in anger, and dragged her off. I knew exactly where they were going, and I ran after them before anyone could stop me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Where in the hell are you going?!" Peter jogged beside me with Lizzie not far behind. I ignored him and lead them outside to the old passage. I heard footsteps ahead of us, and quickly grabbed a torch. We continued our chase, until we reached the lake. Erik was pulling a struggling Christine. .

"Erik!" I yelled, trying to take his attention away from the girl. He whipped his head towards me with a shocked expression.

"Angela? I thought you had left Paris?" He asked confused, still holding onto an equally confused Christine. I smiled sadly.

"I promised you I would always come back." I reached towards him. "Erik, let the girl go. Please Erik, come away with us." I put as much of my pent up emotion in my words as I could. He faltered, then let go of Christine. She stumbled, then backed away. I smiled.

Christine gasped. We all turned towards where she was staring. The Vicomte was running up.

"Raoul!" She ran into his arms. He held her tight, and kissed the top of her head. A soft drumming sound came from far away. Someone was coming. Nervously, I walked over to Erik and grabbed his hand in mine, knowing why they were coming. He seemed surprised and turned the right side of his face away. The deformity wasn't that bad really, just slightly different. His hair was sparse, which probably was the reason for the wig. I turned to the others.

"What are we going to do? They won't stop until they find Erik." I asked. Erik tensed. I squeezed his hand to try and comfort him. Peter had his head bowed and seemed to be thinking deeply. I looked at him anxiously, desperate for any sort of plan. He suddenly straightened up, and said something none of us expected.

"I'll pretend to be Erik." We all stared at him, aghast. I couldn't believe what he just said. I presumed he must either be going mad or his hero complex must be kicking in.

"Are you mad?!" Raoul shouted "How in the hell is this going to work?!" I could sense Peter was trying not to roll his eyes. The Vicomte wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

"If pretend to be Erik," Peter explained "and fake my death while disguised, they will believe he is dead and end their search." I went through all the possible outcomes, and decided that this was the best plan we could go through with in our current circumstances. I looked up at Erik. He had a look of hope in his eyes. I looked over at Lizzie and she was beaming.

"That's brilliant!" Lizzie exclaimed, hugging Peter. I rolled my at her childishness, laughing softly. It was settled then, Peter would save Erik.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

We quickly put Peter's plan into motion. Christine gave Peter Erik's wig and mask. The poor girl had been holding onto them this entire time. Then Erik switched cloaks with Peter, and he helped him put on the wig and mask. Peter looked almost exactly like Erik with these on, and in the dark you could only tell they were different by comparing them beside each other. The plan was nearly perfect.

"How are you going to fake Erik's voice?" I asked, concerned about the only flaws in his plan, " More importantly, how are you going to fake your death?" Peter frowned, thinking. He looked around. We had few options in the passageway, the only thing we had really were a bunch of candles. Candles! I looked over to Peter, and he seemed to have had the same idea as me.

"I can start a fire! I could pretend to try to escape, but fail, and the mob will believe I have perished in the fire I have started. They won't stay for very long to check for a body, for fear of perishing as well." He said with a triumphant smile "As for my voice, I can easily imitate Erik's." Erik and I looked at him skeptically, but I knew Peter could do it..

We all agreed the plan was finally complete. We had decided that Christine, Raoul, Erik, and I would be making our escape, while Lizzie waited for Peter. We had tried to convince her to go with us, but she refused. She needed to make sure Peter would be alright.

By the time we had gathered the candles and found some tinder to make sure the fire would spread, and got Peter set up, the mob had gotten really close. I grabbed Peter and held him close. I whispered my thanks into his shoulder, and let him go. After getting assurances from Peter that he would be alright, I nodded and backed away from him. I felt Erik grab my hand, it was time to go. Our little group left Peter and Lizzie, and Erik led us the quickest way back. I knew the mob had reached them, and I could faintly hear Peter as we ran. I held back from looking back, and focused on running.

We eventually got out onto the street. We stood there for a few minutes, catching our breath. We recovered quickly. Christine spoke first.

"We're going home, where will you two go?" Christine asked, looking at Erik and I. Erik, who had pulled his hood up to cover his face, looked at me.

"We're going to wait for Peter and Lizzie at our Hotel." They nodded, then left. I reached over and held Erik's hand, and led him down the street to the Hotel. The walk there was silent, and Erik never met my gaze. When we had reached the hotel, I had had enough. I pulled him into the lobby, and turned him so I could look him in the eye. I waited until he met my gaze. When he finally did, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. The receptionist, who had left to investigate the fire at the Opera House, was thankfully not back.

I was careful not to knock off Erik's hood, but held him in place. He tensed up at first, his eyes wide open, but soon relaxed and closed his eyes. I closed mine as well as he began to kiss back. Once we had both ran out of breath, I let Erik go. We kept our faces close as we caught our breaths, my gaze never wavering from his. When I could breath normally, I remembered the few words I had caught when he was singing to Christine. I knew it would hurt him, but I needed to know.

"Did you really want to marry Christine?" I asked. I saw hurt in his eyes. He took a moment to collect himself, then thought deeply. He sighed before replying.

"You had left, and Christine was the only one left who knew and accepted me." He paused, then carried on, "She was going to leave me too, and it was the only way I could stop her." He had a few tears welling up in his eyes after this confession. I grabbed him into a tight hug, and buried my head in his shoulder as I held back tears. He slowly wrapped his arms around me, and I whispered over and over how sorry I was. We stood there, holding each other for a moment more.

"Do you forgive me?" I asked, pulling back a bit to look at his face. He nodded, and I smiled softly. The moment was ruined when someone behind us gave a small cough. We quickly let each other go when we saw who was there. It was Peter and Lizzie. Lizzie had a hand over her mouth, smothering her giggles with a few tears in her eyes. I noticed the gleam of a ring on her hand, but was quickly distracted by something a bit more important. Peter, who was covered in grime from the smoke but uninjured, was furious. The vein in his forehead seemed to be trying to break out of his skin. Erik and I stared at them sheepishly.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Erm, how long have you been watching us?" My face was hot and completely red. Lizzie was trying to calm Peter down before he snapped and started breaking things.

"They came in right before you kissed." The receptionist said, trying to be helpful. All he got from this was a glare from Peter. He left before he could say anything else to anger Peter. Erik and I refrained from making eye contact. After what seemed to be an eternity, Peter had calmed down enough for us to leave for the train station, but not before he gave me a lecture of a lifetime. Once we had paid for the tickets, and settled into our seats (I was sat beside Peter so he could monitor me), Peter finally calmed all the way down. I looked out the window as we left the city. We were finally rid of Paris, and I felt as if I would never willingly go back (but this was a lie and I knew it, I loved the city too much).

I fell asleep on the train ride, the slow rocking of the train and my exhaustion overcoming me. I awoke to Erik and Peter quietly talking. It took me a second to realize they were talking about me. I was laying in Peter's lap. I was only half-awake, and couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't quite tell what they were saying, but by the time they stopped talking, they seemed to have come to some sort of agreement. After a moment of silence, I slipped back into unconsciousness.

"Angela, Angela!" A high voice sung in my ear. Someone was gently shaking my shoulder. Grumbling, I shoved Lizzie's hands away, and pretended to fall back asleep. I heard her mumble some very unladylike swear words under her breath, and I held back a smile. I stiffened up when I felt muscular arms slide under my back. I slowly relaxed to keep up my sleeping facade. The arms were familiar, and I tried not to blush as I realized Erik was the one holding me.

Staying limp, we slowly descended what I assumed were stairs. When the bright light hit me, I cut the act. I slowly blinked my eyes open, and was slightly startled when I found Erik's face so close to mine. He smiled at my startled look, and sat me down.

"We thought you were never going to wake up!" Lizzie joked in a overdramatically concerned voice. I stuck my tongue out at her. My house wasn't too far from the train station, so we decided to stop there, and in the morning Peter and Lizzie would leave for Peter's (I found out that Peter had proposed outside the burning Opera Populaire when they had escaped after his act).

My parents were waiting at the door when we arrived. Peter had sent them a note at the station to announce our early arrival from Paris, and to tell them about Erik, so they wouldn't freak out about the strange man in a mask accompanying us. They were still going to freak out though. My parents never forced me to find a husband, but they hinted at it constantly. It was starting to get annoying. I hugged my parents while the rest waited. My father shared a knowing look with Peter. I was slightly suspicious, but I was distracted as my mother pulled me inside.

"Angela, darling, come in right now and tell me everything!" She exclaimed while pulling me. Lizzie followed us, but Erik and Peter stayed outside with my father. I looked back out at them, but the door was closed before I could listen into their conversation. We sat down in the parlor, and Lizzie and I talked for at least an hour to tell the whole tale. After that, my mother and I-mostly my mother- ooh-ed and ahh-ed at Lizzie's ring. After that the men came back inside. I was getting real tired of them keeping things from me.

We all left to the dining room, since it was time for dinner. Our conversation was normal, and my mother was asking Erik what he was intending to do now that he was in England, he was going to write music, and where he was going to stay. He took a moment to think, resting his chin on his hand. He said he didn't know.

"He could stay with us.." I suggested quietly. Peter and my father shared another knowing look. My mother almost instantly said yes, to Lizzie's and my surprise. We looked at each other, confused. Erik, who was seated across from me, seemed a little anxious. Sensing the awkwardness, the chef sent out the dessert. I would have to thank him later. All during dessert, every time I looked up, Erik was staring. He looked away every time I looked at him, but that didn't fool me.

Eventually, we all excused ourselves from the table. Peter and my father got Erik settled in his room, while my mother and I helped Lizzie get settled in the second guest room (Mother wouldn't let Lizzie and Peter share a room, even though they were engaged). All of our rooms were occupied: my parent's room, my room, the first guest room/Erik's room, the second guest room, and Peter's room when he stays with us. That tends to happen a lot.

I lay in my bed, trying to contemplate what plan, for I had deduced they had some sort of plan, the men were constructing. My thoughts were short lived, as I succumbed to the exhaustion of the long day.


End file.
